Monday, November 29, 2010

I've got some extras that are not making it onto bikes or the move, some new,some vintage. All are priced below wholesale cost to give you a warm fuzzy feeling. Please leave a comment if you'd like an item and we'll follow up a bit later.

Groovy Fat Tire segmented fork, built as a proto just to see how the wheel would fit up. Built around a 475 atc, 1.125 uncut steerer (long), 1.125 tubing, hooded dropouts, ISO disc tab, plenty of room for an Endo or Larry. I used lighter gauge tubing on this prototype, so no riders heavier than 175 please. New, never installed, $175.00 plus shipping

Grove Aggressor Frame with Hardcore fork (late 90's), 1.125 headtube, 68mm bb. This is a rider. When I got it, I had plans on restoring the piece for the collection, but alas, no time. Frame has some paint gouges in the downtube from a previous poor shipper. Chain suck area has some rubs, lots of little paint chips, no major dings or dents, overall very structurally sound. You get all the parts on it too if you like (Control tech stem, xt derailleur, post). $300.00 (or throw me an offer, want it to go to a good home) actual shipping additional.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Yeah, I know, not my best picture, but it clearly illustrates my 0530 in the morning been up for two hours already and not had a shower for two days really tired persona. :)

Honestly though, it's been a tough year for the business. Between moving our home, having heart surgery, and building the shop, I am so thankful for the support of my customers who have patiently accepted the time it's taken to move forward, even though production has been slower than anticipated. Thanks so much for sticking with me and allowing me to bring you products that let you enjoy your time on the bike.

I look forward to being able to focus solely on building in the near future (moving in next week!).

I hope your Thanksgiving is full of gratuitous amounts of rich food, family time, and a time away from the stress of life.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I've been following the development of the tapered head tube within the industry for a bit now, specifically the practicability of the application for the custom builders. While a few dedicated folks (Sean, Walt, Cane Creek, True Temper) have pushed the development of componentry to fit a large 44id head tube, I played with custom machining down a single piece into a more elegant shape.

The process was extremely time consuming (6 hours on the manual lathe), but was significant in that it brought to reality the product I had envisioned. I began to talk with Joe Bringheli late last year to see if the possibility of such a product was a reality, as he had worked with me on some custom stays and tubes through Deddachiai previously. I figured the correct tooling and raw material source would ease the production and cost. Turns out, Dedda was already moving in that direction, and exhibited the first protos at the Handbuilt bicycle show in Richmond this year, surprisingly to less of a fanfare than expected.

I've been slowly waiting to invest in tapered head tube stock based on customer demand...after all, the last thing I want is a bunch of headtubes to move around in a box for the next 20 years if folks decide that is not the direction they want to go. Well, Martin gave me a kick in the pants last week when he decided he wanted a tapered head tube on his Ti frame. I called Joe B. on Wednesday, inquiring on how the product has been selling...would you believe that he has not imported and sold one single piece yet? I could not believe that a company that is willing to produce such a piece was not already being supported by the custom community. Looks like most are either supporting the 44 movement or just plain not aware of what is available.

Joe called Dedda for me on Thursday, they shipped them out on Friday, and I picked them up yesterday, pretty darn fast turn around for an international purchase.

The tapered tubes allow for the use of a 1.125 upper and 1.5 lower headset set up, giving more surface area contact and subsequently, more rigidity to the frame/fork interface. Available in both steel (upright) and Ti (laying down), the tube is plenty long to allow for use in both road and mountain applications, just cut and true on the lathe. The tubes also come with machined aluminum inserts for IS bearing use if you choose.

While not cheap, the cost is not over the top either; 50 bucks shipped for steel and 150 for Ti.

Joe and Dedda are ready to get these off their Italian shelves and into custom builders hands, so if you have an itch, they will scratch it :)

I brought in enough to make it worth the shipping, so if you are a builder and only want to play with one to see how it works, give me a call and I can share some of my stock.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Please check your bike weekly to insure bolts are tight, pieces run freely, and that all components are adjusted. It not only keeps you smiling while enjoying your time on the road/dirt, but prevents catastrophic failures such as this:

This frame came back to me as a possible frame failure because the rear end felt "loose" and there was a suspect line in the powder. It didn't take long to see what the issue was. This slider sheared it's dropout interface clean off, but not before elongating and tearing the threads, most likely caused by a loose set of bolts.

Spend some time with a loved one this holiday season, wrench on your loyal steed :)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Friday morning, 0400...back to old shop to work on December Luvs. I thought I was done but I am having a hard time saying "no" to folks who still want to get in before the end of the year. Christi said we are done taking orders for 2010 now, better listen to her or I'll face her wrath ;) Trying to get the last 10 done before getting to the Fire Department for a shift at 0630, missed finishing by one bar, argh...

Friday 1930 hours...highlight of the day was helping take Santa off the roof for the annual City of Wooster Winter Wonderland Downtown celebration (photo courtesy of the Daily Record). Here Santa peers over the rim of the platform while FF Meshew guides him to the ground.

Saturday morning, 0710 hours...the old shop is literally four blocks away from the station, so I stopped in on the way home to finish the last steel bar, a 28" piece for Marty at Geekhouse for his personal crosser creation. If you have not checked out Geekhouse, please do. Marty has a keen sense of style mated with a fun funky spirit...gotta love a guy like that :) http://www.geekhousebikes.com/

Saturday morning-ish...the bamboo wood floor layed in the office at the shop

Sunday 0015 hours...finished painting the main shop. Adobe white on walls, Sedona sandstone red on sofit, Deep water blue above for a little accent. Picked these colors to remind me of one of my favorite places to ride...Arizona. Love the red rocks, blue sky, and bright warmth that both invigorates the spirit and sucks out this overweight/out of shape white boys energy :)

Back to saving lives and stamping out disease today (seriously you say?),

Thursday, November 18, 2010

I mentioned that I'd been agonizing over the paint choices for the shop...we'll, I finally threw all the sample paint chips and books away and just went to the store and bought on inspiration.

For the office, I wanted something totally funky and fun, so that I did not feel like I was at work when I'm in there. Caribbean sunrise on the walls with Guacamole and Raspberry accents around all the doors and windows should do the trick...

You can see that I started building the custom desk/workspace yesterday as well. It will have two "desk" portions for a high back stool, a lower corner platform that the computers will sit beneath with room for paperwork and stuff above, and a corner book shelf running vertically that I've yet to construct. I'm throwing down some groovy charcoal boomerang laminate on the counter tops for the final dash of "whoa".

It's not all about fun though, gotta have some function. One of my pet peeves is hearing the air compressor kick on. Funny, the sound of machining doesn't bother me but the two stage compressor irritates the snot out of me, so I've built a cabinet to house it in. The interior walls and ceiling all have 2" sound proofing foam in the wall spaces, building some custom bar doors that will have foam insulation on the back, and a custom vent to prevent overheating. Should keep it nice and quiet for me :) It backs up on one of the paint booth walls, so it will keep the air line run very short so that I'll have little opportunity for condensation build up in the lines...with two traps in 10" of line, the air should be nice and tidy.

On the fabrication front, we are now officially no longer taking orders for Luvs for the balance of the year. Next run will be in early 2011 and there will be a minimal price increase due to material costs rising for us, primarily in Ti. I've been going into the old shop in the early morning and late evening to finish up the December run and should complete all the fabrication today, then off to the paint booth with them.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

The last week has absorbed every spare minute between fabricating, the fire department, and working towards the completion of the shop for the end of November move in target. As such, I've not updated here or any other forums much, so here are a few shots to share what's been happening...

I took an entire day to run the gas, water, and sewer lines last week. Here's a shot of the two utility ditches leading to the new building...

I've set the gas line and secured it to the block so that I can then run it inside to connect to the new furnace. The little yellow wire with it is a tracer line that allows the utility run to be detected in the future if necessary.

The water line uses the Pex system, a fiber reinforced plastic that uses compression/swage fittings to join the system. The system has many advantages; quickly and efficiently ran and installed, capable of expanding during freezing conditions without fracturing, and interfaces with components that match it to Pex, copper, or steel existing plumbing. Here I've connected to the main water manifold using a "shark bite" Tee connector with the white 3/4" main line for the shop...a process that took less than 10 minutes, so cool.

While I waited on the furnace to arrive, it's been on with the slow process of finishing drywall...it's about all mudded up and ready to sand. The ceilings will be knock down stippled, still working on my anal decision on paint colors for the walls :)

A look into the paint prep room and the booth, where you can begin to see the filter wall taking shape. I'm going to be bringing the glass and the old paint booth door with me...a sentimental mix of old and new :)

With the utilities run and the ditches filled back in, the final grading and landscape work will have to wait til the springtime...

Since these pics, the furnace has been installed, the final wiring and tubing run for the AC unit, the office, bathroom, and paint prep area sanded and primed, and the ceiling completed in the paint prep area. Whew!

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Ok, I won't bore you with the details, but the majority of this week disappeared in the Fire Department to the tune of 96 hours. Thursday was the only day off for shop work, and I spent it working on the new shop by hooking up the septic, running the main water supply line, and running the natural gas line for the furnace to be set on Friday.

By the time I got off duty this morning at 0700, I was feeling pretty mentally and physically brain dead. Christi is out of town again for a couple of days, so I drug the kids to the shop with me to try to get something that borders on productive accomplished. Bar orders have been hopping. As these are pretty much a mindless task, I put the hood down, turned the music up, and pressed the pedal.

Tired of steel, moving to Ti...

Emmy starting wash phase one of the ti parts...

We worked until about 1630, then decided to call it a day, grab some Coccia House pizza, and head for home.

Hoodies and tees arrived sometime this week, I ordered extras so I'll post up what's available tomorrow. Here's a sample shot of what was on top of the box...

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About Me

Hey folks, thanks for stopping by. So...what to tell you about Groovy Cycleworks?
Groovy Cycleworks was born back in the heyday of mountain biking, the early 90's, when bright colors, lycra, and cnc parts ruled the roost.
Learning from one of the true engineering masters of cycling, I acquired a love for clean lines, strong designs, and functional elegance.
I've been doing the "custom" thing since 1994; road, mountain, tandem and a full spectrum of forks, stems, etc...
Drop me a line and we'll see if we can build the bike of your dreams.
cheers,
rody